Landsec looking at 2024 start on Bankside office as firm presses on with Mace and McLaren jobs

Landsec has confirmed it is hoping to start work by the middle of next year on its scheme to replace a 1980s office building on the banks of the river Thames.

Red Lion Court is next to the former Financial Times headquarters in Bankside which is also slated for redevelopment.

In its 2022 results announced this morning, Landsec said the job, which has a total development cost of £310m, was expected to begin in the first half of next year. Construction costs are thought to be around £225m with work due to finish in 2027.

Building understands the prequalification process for a main contractor will start shortly with Mace, Multiplex and Sir Robert McAlpine all expected to bid. A pitch from Lendlease is also thought likely.

Landsec, which bought the red-brick office complex in 2005, wants to build 230,000 ft of workspace along with retail and new public space.

Others working on the scheme designed by BIG include cost consultant Gardiner & Theobald, project manager CPC, M&E engineer Hilson Moran, structural engineer AKT II and sustainability engineer Arup.

Meanwhile, the firm has confirmed that it expects to start work “imminently” on a brace of jobs elsewhere in the capital with a total development cost of £780m.

The £400m Timber Square project, designed by Bennetts Associates, is set to be built by Mace after the firm replaced Laing O’Rourke earlier this year on the job.

And McLaren will also begin work to refurbish a 1960s office block called Portland House in London’s Victoria under a new £380m plan drawn up by Buckley Gray Yeoman.

In its results, Landsec said: “As demand for the best, most sustainable space remains strong, this creates an attractive window for us to deliver new space in 2025 when Grade A supply is expected to be very low.

“Returns on both projects [Timber Square and Portland House] remain attractive…[and]…we therefore plan to commit to the full works on both imminently.”

Timber Square, which is believed to have a construction value of £200m, will be built at 25 Lavington Street in Southwark close to the Tate Modern and comprises two buildings of 10 and 15 storeys. The 29-storey Portland House has been empty for nearly two years and will cost around £130m to overhaul.